Oakland County clerk candidates trade accusations

By Megan Semeraz, For the Daily Tribune

Thursday, October 11, 2012

State Rep. Lisa Brown, a West Bloomfield Democrat seeking to unseat Republican Clerk Bill Bullard Jr. in the Nov. 6 election, is accusing Bullard of illegally using taxpayer dollars to promote his own political campaign, but Bullard has come back and accused Brown of doing the same thing.

Brown’s criticism is from a recent mailing that was sent out to Oakland County residents promoting the clerk’s office and featuring Bullard’s picture. The mailers were sent from the Oakland County Clerk’s office but were not labeled as being paid for by taxpayer dollars.

Bullard said the complaint made by Brown has been misguided because according to the Michigan House Speaker’s office, Brown is using as much as $7,500 of taxpayer money for similar mailings. He said she had to reimburse $1,500 earlier this year from improper mailings sent from her House office.

“The first mailing you are referring to is a mailing that every representative sends out ... it is simply the ballot language, I had no input about what is said. Every representative in Oakland County sent it out to their constituents,” Brown said.

The money Brown paid back was because she found out mailers were going to areas where they shouldn’t have gone on taxpayer dollars. She said she did not send the material herself, but took responsibility for it.

“The second part, again, I had no input about where it went ... it was signed off by (Michigan) Speaker (Jace) Bolger’s office ... since it did go out on taxpayer dime ... I paid for it out of my own pocket,” Brown said.

A representative from the Michigan House Speaker’s office said he can confirm that Brown had to pay back $1,662 when she sent mailers to areas not within her House district, but does not know anything about $7,500.

“Essentially she’s accusing me of the same thing she has done herself ... she is going to be doing it (sending mailers paid by taxpayers) in the next few weeks (with state funding) ... so what sense does that make?” Bullard said. “It makes her a hypocrite. She brought it to your attention, and she’s doing the same thing.”

The Oakland Press obtained a copy of the mailer that explains how residents can track their absentee ballots on a new website called www.oaklandvotes.com. The postcard also refers to the clerk services you can now do online. Bullard’s photo appears on the card and says, “Oakland County Clerk & Register of Deeds” below it. There is no disclaimer as to how the postcards were paid for.

Bullard confirmed more postcards will be mailed, but does not know how many or their cost.

“We have a $10 million budget, so I can’t pick out one item and tell you what it costs,” Bullard said. “We are spending money, but we are spending money to inform the public.”

According to Brown, there have never been mailings like this in the past from Bullard. She believes the mailing had mixed in campaign material.

“If it is such important information, why is it being sent out now?” Brown said.

The reason the postcards were sent out at this time was because of the new website, which was completed just weeks ago, Bullard said.

But Oakland County Commissioner Dave Woodward, a Royal Oak Democrat, said the cards read and look so much like campaign material that many residents believed it was campaign literature.

“These are postcards that put the likeness and photo of the county clerk on them. This has never been done before,” Woodward said. “I believe this is inappropriate use of county resources.”

Woodward said the county mail shop confirmed that the cards were sent out by them.

“I don’t know what their postal rate is, but we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars with one purpose ... to build the name (of the clerk),” Woodward said.

Public Act 280 states “any ballot-related material printed or prepared before the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section that contains the name of an elected or appointed official of this state or a political subdivision of this state may be used if the elected or appointed official whose name appears on the ballot-related materials is not a candidate at the election in which those ballot-related materials are being used.”

“That doesn’t apply to me and, secondly, what we did was not covered by the scope of that law,” Bullard said. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

According to Bullard, the law only applies to material with absentee ballots, and even so, the law is not yet in effect.

“What we’re doing is not going with an absentee ballot, so that law doesn’t apply,” Bullard said. “They are misleading ... it’s the second time in two days that Democrats have misled about what the law is.”

Brown said because Bullard’s name is printed on the material he sent out using taxpayer dollars and he is a candidate in the upcoming election, the mailings are illegal. Brown said since it includes absentee ballot instruction, the law does apply to him.

“I find it frightening that he doesn’t believe the law applies to him,” Brown said.

Brown said Bullard should know the new law because he is the current clerk.

“He is the person who is supposed to be the watchdog for the election ... and he’s not following the rules, what example does that set?” Brown said.

Also a concern for Brown is the remodeling of the county elections divisions office and e-filing center, which she calls “fancy” and said cost the county $111,000.

“(It) is a total fabrication (that I renovated my own personal office),” Bullard said. “It is the same office the clerks have had for 40 years.”

Brown believes the money could have gone to better use.

“Well, that (new office) could have been salaries for a couple of people (among other things),” Brown said.

The new office has an e-service center, according to Bullard, which cost around $17,000. He thinks creating the center was worth it since about 1,000 people use it each month. The space has given the Board of County Canvassers a permanent, secure home, among other things.

According to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners minutes from July 6, 2011, the remodel was approved in a 20-4 vote with an estimated total cost of $111,252. Bullard said the remodel ultimately cost less than that.

“There are good reasons for the renovations which the Board of Commissioners saw,” Bullard said.

Bullard was appointed county clerk when the former clerk, Ruth Johnson, was elected Michigan Secretary of State in 2010.

Brown, who is in her second term in the state House, opted to run against Bullard for county clerk rather than seek a third term in the Legislature.

The clerk’s office oversees elections, property records and legal records in the county.